Neymar: 'I hope to play better, the foot is fine'

The 'Selecao's 1-1 draw with Switzerland in their Group E opener means they must pick up points against Costa Rica and Serbia in their remaining matches to qualify for the Round of 16.

All eyes will be on Neymar, who carries the weight of his nation's expectations on his shoulder and endured a difficult game against the Swiss in which he was incessantly fouled.

It lead to the Paris Saint-Germain forward missing training on Monday and leaving the session the following day after just 10 minutes, sparking fears over his fitness ahead of Friday's clash.

However, those fears have been put to one side by Neymar himself as he spoke to the team's media following successful training sessions on Wednesday and Thursday.

A tweet posted on the Brazilian national team's Twitter account accompanied an interview of the superstar with the words: "He trained, ran, committed fouls, finished... Everything to arrive in good condition for the match on Friday against Costa Rica". 

In the accompanying short video, Neymar himself said: "Expectation is great for the second match. We hope to have a better game than the first. We want to win, we are here to win and play well.

"I trained well and felt comfortable on the pitch. The foot is calm and we will find the best way to beat Costa Rica".

 

June 20, 2018